The present invention relates generally to connector feeding apparatus, and more particularly to connector feeding apparatus used in wire harness-making systems in which one or more electrical connectors are attached to opposite ends of a set of wires.
Conventional connector feeding apparatus for harness-making systems are constructed to select the number and type of connectors in a predetermined order and subsequently feed them to a connector attachment station where they are connected to a set of electrical wires in order to provide wire harnesses. These conventional connector-feeders are operatively connected to the connector holder of the harness-making apparatus. This connector-feeder includes a connector table lift positioned ahead of the connector holder, which holds a series of connectors in parallel arrangements. A shuttle is positioned ahead of this table lift, and the shuttle reciprocates vertically between the table lift and a connector loading station.
In operation, a preselected number of connectors are shifted from the connector holders to the table lift, and then transferred from the table lift to the shuttle in a particular, predetermined order. This connector shuttle carries the connectors to the connector loading station. The connector holder has a series of elongated, adjustable stops, one such stop being allocated to a single connector slot in which a plurality of connectors are arranged in serial order. Thus, the number of connectors that are to be fed from each connector slot to the table lift is set in terms of adjusting the length of the elongated stop.
The table lift is used to carry connectors from the upper level of the connector holder and its associated connector slots to a lower level where in the shuttle is located. This entire structure is so designed that the connectors are not easily shifted from the connector holder level to the connector shuttle at one and the same level. At the connector loading station, a piston-and-cylinder drive is positioned that is responsive to the arrival of the shuttle. This drive includes a reciprocating rod that, when actuated, pushes the connectors out of the shuttle and putting them in the wire attachment station where harnesses are formed as the connectors are applied to opposite ends of the harness wires.
FIG. 6 illustrates such a conventional connector-feeder 60 that includes a connector table lift 61 that reciprocates vertically as indicated by arrow 62 and a reciprocating shuttle 63 that moves horizontally as indicated by arrow 64. The connector holder 80 has elongated stops 65 associated therewith that may be adjusted in their length by way of an associated set screw 66. A first piston cylinder drive 68 has a rod 67 that is reciprocatably driven along the path indicated by 69, while a second piston cylinder drive 70 is positioned at the connector loading station, and includes a pushrod 71 that is reciprocatably driven as indicated by arrow 72.
In operation, connectors are fed from four part feeders (not shown) to the connector slots 73 of the connector holders 80 indicated by arrow 74. The connector table lift 61 is raised to the upper level of the connector slots 73 and a needed number of connectors 4 are shifted from each connector slot to each corresponding slot 61a in the raised table lift 61. The table lift 61 is then lowered to the lower level, where the connectors 4 taken from a selected connector slot 73 are pushed into the slot 63a of the shuttle 63. The needed combination and permutation of different connectors are thereby arranged in the shuttle slot 63a and are brought to the connector loading station where the connectors are subsequently pushed to the wire connecting station by way of the second piston-and-cylinder drive 70.
Every time the combination and permutation of connectors has to be changed to meet particular requirements for the wire harnesses being formed, the extended length of the extendable rod stop 65 for each connector slot 73 must also be adjusted. This adjustment and other preliminary arrangements are time-consuming and require some skillfulness, thereby lowering the working efficiency of the harness-making system. For example, when the combination and permutation of connectors are changed from a 3-pole connector, 3-pole connector, 5-pole connector, 2-pole connector, 2-pole connector pattern to a 3-pole connector, 4-pole connector, 2-pole connector arrangement, the extendable rod stops 65 of all connector slots 73 must have their extended length readjusted to permit the new required numbers of different connectors to be fed from selected connector slots.
In instances where the similar type of connectors appear repeatedly in a required combination and permutation or in instances where a different number of similar connectors appear in a required combination and permutation, the connector feeder of FIG. 6 cannot meet these complicated requirements with ease because the connectors 4 must be shifted to the shuttle by way of the table lift 61. Thus, there is a limit to the making of harnesses, as for example: assume that 2-pole connectors, 3-pole connectors, 4-pole connectors and 5-pole connectors are respectively fed from the four connector slots. The combination-and-permutation of a 2-pole connector, 3-pole connector, 2-pole connector, 4-pole connector, 3-pole connector arrangement cannot be formed in the feeding process. The vertical movement of the table lift up and down disadvantageously takes a significant length of time which increases with the increase of the number of connectors to be combined. This consequently extends the length of time for the feeding apparatus to complete a cycle of loading. Also disadvantageously, the stroke of the pushing rod 71 at the connector loading station must also then be adjusted variably with the varying combination of connectors on the shuttle 63.
A need therefore exists for a less complicated and more efficient connector feed apparatus for use in the assembly of wire harnesses.